Masked Knight

Chapter 140: Proceeding North to the Imperial Capital

Translator: Editor:

The black-clothed vampire laughed as he closed in from afar. Rody suddenly heard a familiar voice. “Get out of my way!”

Rody felt a strong force fiercely knock him to one side. After that, he saw something white shoot out. Under the moonlight, it reflected a soft white light.

Just like that the black-clothed vampire flew smack into that white thing, and suddenly, he screamed. It seemed as if he was burned as he retreated. He had a large and bloody open wound on his body. His clothes were in tatters and a black smoke was coming out of his wounds. There was a trace of water on his body. However, the water stains were like fire to his body. Wherever he went, a light smoke would emerge. The vampire shrieked miserably as he rolled on the ground. His bloody flesh continued to burn until his white bones could be seen.

Rody was stunned for a moment and then he heard a familiar voice whisper, “Act quickly! I only took a little bit of holy water! Now is your chance!” Rody finally realized that the voice belonged to that girl from the Silvermoon Clan, Diane.

Rody felt a gust of wind. Although he could not see her, Rody knew that Diane had already started to rush towards the vampire.

Diane was still using her clan’s special stealth technique. Rody saw that the vampire was stabbed twice, and immediately, a lot of scars appeared. He was seriously injured and was unable to protect himself. Diane's dagger attack left two deep wounds on his body.

The vampire gave a bizarre cry. He endured the pain and suddenly fled. In a very short while, he was already high up in the sky, as he flew away in panic.

Diane walked towards Rody and supported him. Her figure then gradually appeared.

The surroundings had finally turned quiet. Rody looked at Allier and his captain, both lying on the ground. He then whispered. “Let’s check their conditions first. And also… Dark… How is he?”

Diane glanced at Rody and her face revealed a complicated expression.

At that moment, Rody was seriously injured, and his men were also unable to fight. The fatty that had always stopped her was also not around. The troublesome Dark was also unconscious. If she wanted to kill the 'Mystic Dragon' possessed man, there would be no better chance than now. Even if she could not kill him, she could still bring him back to the mountains. Most likely he would be unable to resist. Even if his body was impenetrable to swords, the Elders of the clan might have another way.

However, that hesitation was just a passing thought. Diane gritted her teeth and walked to the captain of the bodyguards and Allier. She carefully checked their conditions and then went to check on Dark.

After a while, she frowned and said, “Duke, your subordinate is alright, but the owner of the inn is on the verge of dying... He was pierced by the claws... As for that guy, I cannot see any injuries.”

Rody turned pale. With great effort, He struggled to Allier's side. He saw that the man’s chest was badly mangled. He probably sustained the injury in the battle earlier. Allier was, by nature, a courageous person. He struggled to get up. At that moment, his face turned gray and his lips trembled. Obviously, Allier was going to die.

Rody felt guilty and he knelt down. He leaned over and gently held Allier’s hand, but he could not say anything.

Allier suddenly opened his eyes and said, “Your Excellency the Duke, this old man had worked for the late Duke for the first half of his life! It was a great glory to be under the banner of the Tulip Family. Today, to die for Your Excellency is the greatest honor granted to me by God!”

Rody gloomily whispered, “Do you have any wish? You can tell me. I will definitely fulfill your wish.”

Allier’s eyes reflected a certain brilliance. He forced a smile on his pained face and said, “Today, I die defending the Tulip Family and have no more desire. But I still have a son. I… I beg Your Excellency the Duke to allow him to stand under the banner of the Tulip Family.”

Rody nodded. “Your wish, I will make it come true.”

Suddenly, Allier's face glowed and he used all his strength to shout out, “Long live the Tulip Family!” After that, Allier drew his last breath.

Rody trembled and felt confused. He did not know whether to be sad or proud. He shook his head and whispered, “Tulip Family… How many people think that dying like this is glorious? Is this name really so glorious?”

He slowly stood up and whispered, “Who am I? Am I myself or am I the Duke of the Tulip Family? If I am myself, then why are these people dying for me? If I were the Duke of the Tulip Family, so... so, what I am considered as? What about Nicole… Nicole...” Thinking of that, Rody 's body suddenly shook and he felt a pain in his chest. He turned pale and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Diane looked indifferent but she also sighed in her heart.

Tulip Family... What kind of magic does this name have? Why do the people of the Empire worship him like a God? Why did the dying man shout his name? Love live the Tulip Family? Why is it not ‘Long live the Empire’ or ‘Long live the Emperor’? Could it be that the Tulip Family is more prominent than their Empire, their Emperor, and even their God?

Diane sighed and went to support Rody. The captain of the bodyguards also struggled to stand up. Although he was covered with injuries and his longsword was tattered, he still tried to stand up straight.

A burst of wind scattered the clouds in the sky and the fatty’s figure gradually became clearer. As the fatty approached from afar, he finally saw, in the woods, several unstable people below him. He smiled and descended.

When Rody saw him, his expression changed and asked, “Sky, where have you been the whole night?”

Sky threw aside the vampire he caught. He clapped his hands and lazily said, “I just caught a small bat. This is him.”

When Rody saw the vampire in black clothes, he became furious. He suddenly grabbed the sword the captain was holding and slashed at the vampire on the ground.

Sky reacted quickly. He pulled the vampire’s leg and dragged him out of the way. Rody ended up striking the ground.

“Be patient! Be patient! Boy, you cannot kill this fellow! If he is dead, you would no longer be able to save your companions. I am telling you the truth. I already went back to the inn to take a look. Your subordinates were dead. This little bat that I caught is precious. If you want your subordinates to live again, it is better not to harm him.”

After listening to what he said, Rody no longer brandished his sword. He looked at Sky with surprise and then asked, “Did you say… my soldiers can be brought back to life?”

Sky showed a strange smile, “I did not say 'brought back to life'. I only said saved.”

Rody had a strange feeling when he saw Sky’s smiling face.

Why do this guy and that old skeleton have such similar laughter?

The inn was a mess. The corridors were filled with traces of fighting and there was broken masonry on the ground. Blood was splashed on the ground and even the roof of the inn was ragged. That was obviously a post-war scene.

The dead Wolf Fang soldiers were found at various locations in the inn. Some of the corpses' eyes were open showing an angry expression, even when they were dead.

The inn was empty. Most of the guests and all the servants had already run away in disarray. There were also a few that were killed by those vampires during the chaos. After some sorting out, the bodies of the dozen Wolf Fang soldiers were neatly arranged in a row at the courtyard.

Rody stood in front of the loyal soldiers and coldly looked at them.

“Don’t you even feel a little bit sad?” Diane could not help but ask when she saw Rody’s cold expression.

Rody glanced at her. His eyes were cold like ice and he replied in an equally cold voice, “I… have already seen... too much death!”

After that, Rody looked at Sky and asked, “Is there no other way?”

Sky rolled his eyes and said, “Are you not satisfied? If they can become vampires, then you would have a dozen more powerful subordinates! Vampires are second only to dragons. They are much more powerful compared to the fragile humans! Tonight, you clearly witnessed this yourself. Your subordinates were all warriors. They were outstanding warriors in the human army. In the end, they were still easily killed by the vampires! These warriors were very strong. If they were to become vampires, their strength will be substantially increased…”

Rody interrupted him. “This is not what I meant! Don't tell me that I have to turn them into blood sucking monsters just because I needed some powerful subordinates! I just want them to live! I do not wish to transform my companions into monsters!”

A sharp voice answered from the side, “We vampires are not monsters! We vampires are noble living creatures!”

Rody stared at him fiercely. The black-clothed vampire, that Sky had just woken up, was shocked but he still laughed and said, “I did not kill your subordinates. However, the way you all look at us vampires is ridiculous! We vampires, the humans and also the dragons are the higher organisms of this world. However, we are described as monsters because you humans fear us!”

Rody turned cold and replied, “Do you think I don’t know about you vampires? Ordinary civilians may not know but I definitely know!”

Rody paused and then he said in a low voice, “Seven hundred years ago, there was a war on the continent. That was the war between the people and the Kara clan. At that time, there were no vampires! After then, there was a human general named Count Dracula... He was originally a devout believer of God and fought against Kara’s tribe for humanity... In the war, he fought at the frontlines and earned a lot of merits. However, when he won the war, there were rumors everywhere. The rumors said that his army was defeated and he was killed in battle. His family and wife committed suicide when they heard that. When Count Dracula returned, he saw his dead wife. After that, he angrily asked the Gods why a devout believer like him received that kind of ending. In the end, his speared a God's idol at the Church. Blood started to flow all over. After that, he sided with the Devil and used fresh blood to sustain life. He became an immortal vampire.

Rody finished the story and looked at the vampire. He then asked, “Isn’t this so? If the records of the teachings of God is not wrong, then you, vampires are nothing but monsters that have been evolved from humans!”

“Hahaha…” Unexpectedly, the vampire did not have the slightest expression of fear. He looked at Rody in the eyes, smiled and said, “The teachings of Gods… again with the teachings of Gods. Those hypocritical fellows really dared to say anything to cover up the truth. Let me tell you. Ignorant human.” The vampire’s voice was not loud but was still filled with pride. “We, vampires are masters of this world just like you humans! However, we, like Kara’s clan, were subjugated by the despicable humans! We were the defeated race! We are not monsters! However, the beauty of our blood could never be obliterated!”

Rody was silent. He looked at Sky and then he looked at Diane.

That’s right. God’s teachings were filled with lies… The story of the Mystic Dragon, the extinction of Kara’s clan, the God and Devil war… Now, the vampires?

“Will they live again?” Rody asked in a low and weird voice.

“They will.”

“Do they need to drink blood to live?”

The vampire looked at Rody and replied, “No, drinking blood is just our hobby and a way for us to continue our race. Drinking blood for a living is just the distortion by you humans!”

Roddy nodded and looked at Sky. “How long can a blood-sucking vampire live?”

The vampire rolled his eyes as if he was very dissatisfied with the ‘blood-sucking’ words.

Sky shook his head and replied, “Only God knows. By the way, this person in front of you is over two hundred years old.”

Rody looked at the vampire again and said, “I do not want them to become blood-sucking monsters! I also do not want them to become monsters that people are afraid of! Do they really need to drink blood every day after they come back to life?”

The vampire shook his head and replied, “Unless you want them to become more powerful... Other than that, there is not much difference between us, vampires and you, humans... Our food is not much different as well.”

Sky suddenly laughed and added, “Other than garlic…”

Rody did not look at the vampire. He turned and walked into the room. He no longer came out.

Sky stared at the vampire and said, “Little bat, Why have you not started? You better not try anything funny in front of me…”

The vampire shook his head and sighed. “Sigh, I am a noble person and I actually get messed up by such a fellow... You asked to give this dozen of humans the first embrace. Did you think I was a Prince ranked vampire? I am only a two hundred years young man… although I am a genius among the vampires…”

As the vampire was still mumbling to himself, Sky stared at him. He immediately kept quiet.

At dawn, Rody stood outside the inn.

Rody had insisted on leaving for the Imperial Capital. However, the dozen new blood vampires had not completely degenerated into matured vampires. Sky had to retain the captive vampire. Other than the powerful fatty, nobody else would be able to defeat that vampire. Even though Rody really needed to have the help of a superhuman like Sky to follow him to the Imperial Capital he could not ignore the safety of his subordinates.

The captain of the bodyguards was seriously wounded and at that moment was still unable to move freely. The captain tried to oppose the Duke’s decision to continue his journey, but Rody had simply knocked him out.

Dark was pale. He had used the ‘blood destroying blood’ technique to fight recklessly against that vampire and at that moment was badly injured.

Rody looked at Sky and told him, “Fatty, I hope you did not lie to me. If these dozen men don't come back to life, I will come after you even though you had achieved 'Domain Force'!”

Sky pursed his lips and showed a supercilious expression.

Rody mounted on a horse and gently kicked it. He then whipped the horse and rode towards the North.

Sky then turned around and facing the empty space on his side, he shouted, “Little girl of the Kara clan, Aren’t you going after him to watch the Mystic Dragon? Isn’t that your mission?”

There was no reply.

Sky shook his head and said to himself, “Ah, It seemed like she has already gone… Shit. The Kara clan’s stealth technique is very similar to the vampire’s ‘Blood Escape’. Even an old man, like me, cannot see through them. Young people these days…”

Sky shook his head vigorously and forcefully kicked the vampire with one foot. He then shouted ferociously, “Little bat, get to work!”

The sun started to rise as a horse rode quickly towards the North.

Rody looked gloomy.

“Nicole, wait for me. I am coming back to you!” Rody then thought of something and could not help but say in a low voice, “Even if he is the Emperor, I will fight with all my might and I will drag him to hell to meet the devil.”

Diane’s voice came from behind, “Why send him to meet the devil?”

Rody’s expression did not change. He knew that Diane would be following him and did not bother to look back. Although he could not see her, he could feel her following behind him.

“The devil? I actually ordered to create a dozen vampires! In the eyes of God’s believers, I am already someone who worship the devil.” A wry smile could be seen on Rody’s mouth.

If passersby were to see this scene, they would think that they were daydreaming. This is because they would be able to see a young blonde haired man riding a horse with a flirtatious woman with black hair standing behind him.

The woman’s black hair fluttered as she stood on the back of the horse as if it was a flat surface.